Nadal faces ‘tricky’ match with Shapovalov

MELBOURNE — Rafa Nadal faces a tricky test in his quest for a men's record 21st Grand Slam title when he takes on Denis Shapovalov in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Tuesday, but the Spaniard is relishing another battle with his fellow left-hander.

Nadal returned to action on the ATP Tour for the first time since Aug. 5 earlier this month and has slowly moved into top gear at the first major of the year, reaching the last eight after a gritty performance against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.

The sixth seed expects another challenging encounter against Canadian Shapovalov, who beat him as a teenager in their first meeting on the hard courts at Montreal in 2017, although the 35-yearold has since improved the head-to-head record to 3-1.

"It's going to be a tough one for me ... It's a match to try my best, to play at my highest level if I want to have chances to go through," Nadal told reporters. "Yeah, I'm excited about it. I didn't expect to be where I am weeks ago."

Canadian ninth seed Felix Auger-aliassime earned a quarter-final berth when he outlasted veteran Croatian Marin Cilic 2-6 7-6(7) 6-2 7-6(4) on Monday.

Cilic raced through the first set in only 35 minutes, but the long second set proved pivotal.

Auger-aliassime squandered four set points under a baking afternoon sun, while also saving one with an ace.

But the 21-year-old finally won the set at the fifth opportunity to even the match, and dominated the next set as 33-year-old Cilic's errors mounted as he became frustrated at the length of time his opponent took between serves.

Both players held serve in the fourth set to set up a tiebreaker, in which Augeraliassime prevailed with outstanding serving, closing it out with an ace in front of a small but excited crowd.

World number one Ash Barty steps up her bid to emulate Chris O'neil and give Australia a first home women's singles champion at Melbourne Park since 1978. Standing in her way is American 21st seed Jessica Pegula, who has never reached the semi-finals.

Resurgent American Madison Keys, a former U.S. Open runner-up, meets Czech fourth seed and French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in an intriguing contest. Bigserving Italian seventh seed Matteo Berrettini takes on Frenchman Gael Monfils.

Estonia's Kaia Kanepi rallied from a set down to topple world number two Aryna Sabalenka 5-7 6-2 7-6(10) on Margaret Court Arena in a tight contest on Monday to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.

Having surrendered the opening set for three matches in a row, Sabalenka took a one-set lead for the first time in Melbourne but was unable to build on it as her serving issues resurfaced once again.

The Belarusian committed 15 double faults in another error-strewn performance, five more than she had in her third-round win over Marketa Vondrousova.

Kanepi was gifted a double break early in the second set with back-to-back double faults from her 23-year-old opponent and did not waste the opportunity as she cruised to a 4-0 lead before taking the set.

The 36-year-old carried that momentum into the decider and looked set to go 5-3 up but Sabalenka saved four break points to hold for 3-4 and level it, before suffering a service meltdown again and hitting three double faults in four points.

Kanepi was made to work for her victory after being unable to close the match from 40-0 up as Sabalenka saved four matchpoints to break back, before the pair traded holds to take the deciding set into a tiebreaker.

The Estonian finally prevailed in the tiebreak, taking advantage of a string of unforced errors from Sabalenka to convert her fifth matchpoint and complete the upset.

"I think I would be more happy if I won after two, three matchpoints," Kanepi told reporters. "It was really close, I almost lost the match.

"My hand was shaking when I started serving in that game. I didn't make any first serves in, and that added to the pressure.

"I almost didn't (recover). I guess I was just lucky at the end. So close."

Sabalenka expressed disappointment in her performance but said there were still positives to take from the defeat.

"I had all the opportunities and I didn't use it," Sabalenka said. "I would say I started well but I lost focus and it became really emotional. I couldn't find a way back.

"Compared to the beginning of the season, I'm really happy that I was able to kind of find the rhythm on my serve. So there is still something positive."

Kanepi will take on 2020 French Open champion Iga Swiatek, who beat Sorana Cirstea 5-7 6-3 6-3 earlier on Monday, for a place in the semi-finals.

The world number 115 has reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam on six previous occasions, most recently in the 2017 U.S. Open, but has never managed to progress beyond the last eight.